


Effects of the Blood of King Arthur

by Doukz



Category: Vampyr (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Character Turned Into Vampire, Death, Jonathan just wants to help, M/M, McCullum is a bastard as usual, Vampires, blood of king arthur, shipping is subtle but there, slight ocs cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 02:50:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20499650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doukz/pseuds/Doukz
Summary: Jonathan spares McCullum at the top of the Pembroke Hospital. Figuring the two will be able to work past this, he even offers to help McCullum up whenever his own footing falters due to fatigue. The problem is that it isn't fatigue or wounds that have the hunter in such a suddenly fragile state, but rather what's in the flask he consumed before the battle.





	Effects of the Blood of King Arthur

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a short oneshot  
I-  
I ramble a lot  
I'll also update the summary if I can come up with a better synopsis, but for now have fun with these stupid children

One final slash and Mcullum was sent stumbling backwards. He lost the grip on his sword as his knees buckled beneath him and he crumbled onto the floor. Fuck! He was supposed to be strong enough to beat Jonathan- the blood of King Arthur was supposed to give him the added boost necessary to destroy, to rip apart that cocky leech! He hissed as he did his best not to cough up blood- it had been a bloody and brutal fight, and he didn’t want to admit it was too much for a human to handle.

That doctor looked worse for wear too, and it seemed he didn’t have enough blood in him to heal himself of one of the last stabs he got in on him. Good, the leech deserved that. He’d bloody ripped at his throat three or four times during the fight- though the hunter had the vague suspicion it might’ve just been because he desperately needed the blood to heal himself. There would be no dwelling on the innocence of this beast though!

Geoffrey stole a glare up at Jonathan, who looked mildly displeased with the situation at hand. He was focusing more of his weight on one leg and was pointedly looking away for a second, presumably to get his bearings and thoughts together. Mcullum let him, maybe if he could catch a breath he could stab the fucker the right way and end this thing. Maybe, if he’d just drunk more of Arthur’s blood- no, not maybe, he would have that leech’s head on a pike right now, he was sure of it.

He felt dizzy from the fight, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it. He should not be kneeling on the floor right now! Spite ran through him in an instant, and he coughed (up a little blood, but he wouldn’t admit it) to clear his throat.

“We… Are the guardians of justice! Priwen shall Prevail!” He growled, sputtering at the beginning but doing his best to maintain his harsh voice as he glared at the ground. Keeping his composure even knelt over was hard; he was so weak now… Arthur’s blood must have some sort of crash when it came to energy after the dosage was done.

“You can’t accept the fact we’re not enemies, can you?” Jonathan echoed in reply. His voice was clearly that of someone who was done putting up with this. It made McCullum’s blood boil at his calm tone.

“We always have been, and we always will be-“ he had to take a sharp breath as he tried to ignore the pain in his lungs, “Of all the evils that threaten mankind… You’re kind is the worst!”

“I can’t help that I had just woken up before your men hunted me down!” Reid hardly took a second to argue back.

“You’d just woken up, and you’d already drained the life of an innocent women-“

“My sister! I had not- I did not want to…” Jonathan’s voice trailed off. Geoffrey didn’t let what he’d said sink in as his dizziness became almost too much to shrug off. “There really is no way you’ll ever let me be, is there McCullum. You’ll always hunt me down, won’t you?!”

Damn right! Geoffrey had to take a moment to reply, “there is no escape, leech. Kill me now- for there is no way you can sway me to your ideals.” He spat at the doctor. There would be no convincing, he was willing to die here and now for his cause. McCullum was prepared to be a martyr for the rest of Priwen. He was a little afraid that might have been his fatigue talking. Usually he’d be determined to live, but… His body ached and he was just so tired he almost wouldn’t mind if- no- that was the talk of a coward, shut up McCullum.

Geoffrey almost missed the sound of the leech approaching. Before he knew it the monster had his hand cupped around his chin and his head angled upwards- McCullum did not look at the doctor’s face. He refused to acknowledge it as he fixed his eyes straight ahead of him.

“That’s where you’re mistaken.” Jonathan spoke. The doctor was clearly contemplating very hard on his choices, but he knew what he was doing was the best thing anyone could do in this situation.

“What do you mean?” The hunter meant to sound spiteful, but his voice came out sounding almost as weak as he felt. He didn’t know it, but it made Jonathan sad to hear.

Reid took a long breath before speaking again, “I’ll spare you, Mcullum. I’ll offer you the mercy you never offered me.” This almost made McCullum relieved to hear, but he couldn’t believe it for one second. A leech, letting him go? Blasphemous, idiotic- impossible!

So, his immediate reaction was naturally to rebuke it. “What is this ruse?” he seethed. Jonathan backed away, almost displeased with the reaction but not surprised.

“This is no ruse McCullum. This is me, letting you go.” He stuck an arm out for Geoffrey, hoping the hunter would actually take it. “After all, you and I are both trying to save this poor country in our own way.”

The hunter hesitated. The leech _was _a doctor, and he hadn’t killed anyone out of necessity (his guard’s being a prime example), but he was a blood sucker nonetheless, but… He would do well not to believe a word the vampire said, but he took the offering anyways, still wishing he had taken more of the ancient blood so he wouldn’t have been in the position in which he was being helped up by a leech.

Nevertheless he grabbed his arm as he knew he needed something to grab onto to hoist himself up. McCullum was awfully tired; some of his mind was becoming unaware to his surroundings. The room around him almost seemed blurry, and he realized he hadn’t even pushed himself off the ground yet.

As he pulled on Jonathan’s arm and stumbled to get up he suddenly felt the excruciating pain in his body, and just as he thought he was good enough to let go of the doctor’s arm he was suddenly rushing to the floor again as his legs gave out on him. Jonathan almost fell with him, stumbling as his grip tightened on Geoffrey’s arm and he managed to stop the hunter from hitting the ground completely.

“Are you alright?” the leech questioned immediately, bending down as if he were about to inspect the hunter. Geoffrey quickly swatted away the doctor rather harshly, glaring daggers at him and scooting away so that he wasn’t so close to the damned beast.

“Don’t even think about examining me leech, I’m fine!” he seethed through gritted teeth. He was not fine; he could really feel it now. His entire body felt like it was overheating, he was definitely running a fever and his hands were shaking uncontrollably.

“McCullum, you know that I am a doctor. If I’ve wounded you then I need to be able to see so that I can help y-“

“I would never let a damned leech inspect a bloody wound! And I sure as hell don’t have a wound, _leave me be_.” McCullum snapped. Jonathan almost flinched, but he didn’t move to give him any more space.

“… Are you sure?” he instead asked quietly. Jonathan was studying McCullum’s face intensely for any sign of pain. Of course, the hunter looked awful. Pale, feverish, sick, exhausted- Jonathan assumed he must not have been able to heal some wounds with the blood of King Arthur after all.

“Y-Yes, I’m sure.” Geoffrey caught himself at the beginning of his sentence as a spike of pain hit him throughout his body.

“Then you should be able to get up, correct?”

“Of course! Doesn’t bloody damn matter if I decide to rest a second.”

“Then surely you’ll be fine resting with a leech such as myself.” The doctor responded, clearly intent on getting through the hunter’s weak excuses.

“Damnit Reid, I am fine! Shut up or I’ll shove my sword through your chest right here and now.” McCullum threatened.

“You’d have to go and get it, first.”

“Oh you- fucking leech.” Geoffrey cursed under his breath. Filled to the brim with spite he tried to push himself to his feet. He stood up for a second before suddenly feeling the room spin and having to drop down a second later clutching his head. Jonathan knew there was something direly wrong then and he quickly moved in closer to the hunter to inspect him, permission or not.

“Hands off beast!” Geoffrey tried to shove the doctor away, but he was hardly strong enough to do much more than complain.

“I am not going to let you sit here and die, McCullum. Tell me what’s wrong.” Jonathan insisted.

“I told you ‘m fine- I just- ‘m just a little put off from the fight, a little dizzy, that’s all-“ the hunter’s accent thickened as his mind whirled.

“You’re also feverish. And you’re shaking like a leaf- we’re getting you out of here.” The doctor stated, leaving no room for argument. Of course, McCullum argued anyways.

“Like hell we are, I’ll get my own damned self out of- hey, stop that!” He countered, until he suddenly felt himself behind hoisted up. The damned leech draped Geoffrey’s arm over his shoulder to help him balance, nearly stumbling himself in the process.

“Let fuckin’ go of me! You can ‘hardly walk yerself!” he complained, struggling to get himself off to no avail. Jonathan merely huffed in annoyance and shifted his weight again to support the writhing hunter.

“I can manage, McCullum. You, on the other hand, cannot.” Reid explained as the two began to make their way back out of the arena. Geoffrey hissed and cursed under his breath, but didn’t object further. He didn’t have the energy too- everything in his body almost burned and the room seemed to spun- his body wanted to lock up but at the same time he couldn’t stop twitching.

He doubted this was some broken bone. Somewhere deep down he really doubted this was just some injury from the vampire. Maybe it was just side effect so of the blood- feeling so powerful and recovering so quickly during the fight, surely he should have expected a crash just as bad as the good.

“I can get you to my or Dr.Swansea’s office once we get to the second floor- both have medicine and I can get a proper look at your wounds there.” Jonathan spoke, more so to himself than Geoffrey as they stumbled into the elevator shaft together. He let McCullum finally succeed in pushing him away, the hunter dropping onto the floor and laying against the wall as he fought the pain taking over his entire body. The doctor closed the elevator and looked over at the Irishman as they began the short decent. He looked so god awfully pale…

“Stop starin’ at me, leech.” Geoffrey hissed as he curled in on himself, betraying how he felt.

“If it puts you at ease, I’m simply trying to figure out what happened to you, which is hard to do when you don’t want me so much as looking at you.” Jonathan replied. For the situation he seemed good at keeping the situation as light as possible- he tone never seemed to exceed a calm. Then again he was a doctor, and he’d dealt with death in more ways than any normal doctor ever would.

“Nothin’ a leech does will ‘put me at ease’.” Was the ever so polite answer he was given.

The elevator came to a screeching halt and the doctor moved to help McCullum up again. This time the hunter only objected slightly, and mostly only because he hardly had the energy to move anymore. He was so tired…

Much of the way to his office was a blur. His vision was almost obscured by the pain and he found himself hardly able to keep in pace with the leech holding up, who seemed to become more frantic at the second. He noticed the doctor shift him around every so often and occasionally glance at him, never having a good reaction when he did so. He thought he saw guilt and regret flash upon the blood sucker’s face.

The real challenge began when they came across the first flight of stairs. There were only two, but it took a lot of focusing for Geoffrey to find his footing on each step. Jonathan had considered carrying him, but his own leg was injured and without any way to heal himself at the moment they had to work with what they could. But the two did make it down finally, and the hunter tried once more to push the doctor away. The gall of that leech to think he was in need of help! He thought of shoving his sword into the beast’s torso until he remembered that all of his weapons had been left in the arena upstairs.

Good fucking lord, he was defenseless with an injured vampire, lady luck sure must have loved him today.

It was even worse when the leech led him towards a more secluded hall, ignoring his fighting back yet again.

“Takin’ me somewhere quiet to kill me off now, leech?” Geoffrey snarled when he stopped struggling to remove his arm from over Reid’s shoulder.

“I imagine even once I’ve fixed up your wounds you’re still going to scream bloody murder, aren’t you McCullum.” The doctor mused. “My office is this way. Or would you rather us turn around and go to Dr.Swansea’s instead?"

Geoffrey was silent then, mumbling “it wouldn’t matter anyways” under his breath. He hardly noticed the rooms to the side of the hall as they approached the door at the end. Jonathan opened the door and they managed inside. _Into the beast’s den_, he thought bitterly. At least it was dark in here, the lights were beginning to bother him.

“Regardless, I do plan on finding where you’re keeping him before he gets put in mortal danger.” The doctor added quietly, more than a touch of deep anger sitting on his tongue.

Finally the leech let him go, setting him down shortly into the room. McCullum lay against the wall as he clutched his sides- it wasn’t his sides in particular that hurt, but it was all he could do at the moment. It also partially shielded him from the very nosy doctor, who didn’t seem keen on letting the hunter shut him out.

“McCullum,” Jonathan began as he got up to grab basic medical supplies, “if you do not let me address your wounds you may very well die right here.” His tone was awfully serious, something Geoffrey almost didn’t expect to hear from a vampire. Why should he care if he dies? It’s not like he should _trust_ a damned monster.

Instead of letting him poke and prod he opted to just tell him a general idea of what he felt to get him off his back. “It’s not one particular injury, I hurt all damned over- I’m just exhausted!” He protested.

“All over? In what way?” Jonathan asked. Geoffrey almost didn’t catch that the doctor was just trying to worm his way into a diagnosis another way now, but at the moment he couldn’t give a fuck about wasting the energy to deny the leech the satisfaction of winning. Good god when did he become so pathetic that he cared more about denying medicine than living? He was a damn spiteful creature for sure.

“‘M Burnin’ up. Nothing a little rest wouldn’t heal if you’d leave me the fuck alone.” Geoffrey spoke in a suddenly quieter tone that didn’t quite match the glare he was giving Reid.

“I wish you would cooperate just once with me. I am not going to harm you, much less kill you.” Jonathan approached the hunter again and kneeled down to inspect him, but kept to himself and let Geoffrey continue to glare daggers at him. He could already tell how twitchy he was when he was supporting him on the way here, but now it was evidently clear. McCullum wrung his hands before instinctively curling in on himself more as pain hit harder, his entire body shook, almost violently. It was like he was getting sick- this wasn’t the result of a wound Jonathan had dealt- Geoffrey had told the truth there.

But Jonathan couldn’t seem to sense disease in McCullum, either. And he couldn’t shake some sense of guilt from this.

“Are there any other symptoms you’d care to tell me about, McCullum?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Geoffrey scowled. He did, in fact have more symptoms. Aside from the shaking he was sure the doctor knew about anyways he had a headache, it was becoming harder to breathe, and his throat was drying up. He felt like he might be dying, even. But he ignored the last thought. Surely Reid couldn’t help whatever this was, especially if it was being caused by an age old blood.

“At least take this for now, then. It should help some with the pain.” Jonathan handed him a vial of liquid medicine, which he snatched and placed on the floor beside him.

“Just stop trying, Reid.” The hunter hardly noticed that he’d called him by his name.

Jonathan hardly had time to react as the both of them were startled by a quiet knock at the door.

“What kind of visitors does a leech like you get around this hour?” Geoffrey jeered.

“I don’t.” Jonathan stated quietly as he got up. The two were already very close to the entrance, so he was there in an instant. Unsure of who to expect, he cracked the door open slightly only to see someone he was afraid might not even be alive.

“Dr.Swansea?!” He gasped as he quickly stepped back to open the door more and let him in.

“Oh Jonathan, you have no idea how happy it makes me to see that you’re ali-“ Edgar stumbled in, his face bruised and one of his arms wrapped around his torso. He stopped when his eyes went from Jonathan to the body lying shaking on the floor. “- I see you h-have another patient, the… Priwen leader.”

“I know it seems awfully ironic, but I couldn’t let him die.” Jonathan explained as he guided Edgar over a chair. “Now, what the hell happened to you?”

“Well, funny story, you see-“ Edgar stopped to cough, hacking up blood in the process, “-I was beaten. By the Priwen guards, I’m sure you’ve figured. I almost died, but they finally let me go and dumped me off at the hospital, I’m… Not sure why. I’m almost surprised no one saw me come up here.”

Jonathan let it sink in for a long moment before whirling around to face McCullum.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t kill him?!” he fumed.

Geoffrey, who’d gone silent aside from giving both of them a death glare, let out an exhausted sigh. “I told my men not to… But in the end I can’t stop them.” He gave the doctor a wry smile, succeeding in pissing him off more.

“Please, Jonathan, let it go for now.” Edgar grabbed the vampire’s arm to distract him. “Now that I’m in the hospital I can fix myself up, but he’s not a doctor- help him.”

“I thought I was the merciful one, but you’re truly a specimen, Edgar.” Jonathan shook his head before looking back down at the hunter.

“Alright McCullum, let’s get you into a proper seat.” He bent down and hoisted the other man up, this time without a fight back. That in itself worried him. He let himself venture the thought that McCullum could be… Might be… Dying. But he didn’t know what else to do other than sit him down somewhere more comfortable, and maybe it was just because he was a doctor, but he didn’t like the idea of the hunter perishing on him. With no visible wounds and a patient absolutely unwilling to take medicine (not to mention McCullum was not only impossible to mesmerize, but Jonathan had grown to dislike using it anyways) there weren’t many options for him.

He turned the chair at his desk around with his foot and sat Geoffrey down in it. Risking a harsh retort he also placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature- the hunter was burning up more than he’d thought. McCullum snapped his head away wearily as he leaned over in the chair. He pointedly looked away from the direction of Edgar- ever since he’d come into the room his heart rate had been all over the place. He could almost feel his head spin whenever he looked over at him, his heart beat rise exponentially- he was certain it was some strange thing associated with dying and scowled at himself internally for the thought alone.

Edgar had busied himself with applying his own bandages.

“I’m going to do everything I can, but I don’t honestly know what’s wrong with him. What… What of your situation, Edgar?” He diverted the topic back to the surgeon.

“Aside from heavy bruising I’m certain I’ve a cracked rib and my left wrist is most likely sprained, but nothing I can’t live through now that I’m here. What happened to the hunter?” Edgar inquired, tone always somehow as chipper as ever.

“He lost a lot of blood, he’s sh-“

“I’m shaking. I’m tired. And I’m pissed.” McCullum interrupted. “It’s just the aftermath of the fight dammit, I’m not dying!” He growled even as he found himself fighting to breathe normally.

“The aftermath of the fight… You don’t have any physical wounds… that I know of. Can you think of anything else that could have caused this??” Jonathan questioned.

“Well not much else happened tonight to make me double over like this.” Geoffrey responded with venom in his voice, clearly done with the topic.

“Right, I… Edgar, what do you think?” Jonathan turned back to his friend with a quiet voice.

“Well, I wasn’t there to witness the fight. Unless it’s internal bleeding…” The two discussed the matter further, whilst McCullum struggled not to pass out.

He was at a peak in terms of feeling like shit. His heart was beating too fast- he swore it felt like he was having two different heartbeats at once, like the top half couldn’t catch up to the bottom. His entire body shook; he burned so, so much it was almost like he might burst into flames. And not to mention his lungs, his entire body felt as though it was shutting down on him.

Maybe it was.

The thought suddenly seemed a lot scarier than it had before. He tried to open his mouth to speak but coughed instead, blood trickling out unceremoniously. He couldn’t breathe anymore. Panic rushed through his body as he vaguely noticed Jonathan turning towards him, and noticed a hand on his shoulder and something being said but he couldn’t make out any of it. Instead he felt every muscle in his body spasm and he tried to get up. Immediately the hand (Jonathan, he realized somewhere in the back of his mind) moved to help him up as he felt himself begin to crumble.

“Jonathan!” Geoffrey found himself not caring that the man was a leech as he tried desperately to keep a hold on him as he grabbed his shoulders with both hands, then the sleeves at his elbow as his body’s uncontrollable seizure made him lose his grip and then just missing his hand as he fell onto the ground in a violent spasm. He struggled for breath, grabbing at his neck, Jonathan, anything to stop whatever was happening to him. He didn’t want to die!

But he could feel every fiber of his being shutting down as his vision swam and darkened, and the concerned cries from Jonathan hardly being recognized as his body twitched uncontrollably. McCullum no longer had the strength to keep fighting and as his consciousness was dragged into the depths Jonathan was the last face he saw before his head fell to the side and his heart ceased to function.

-

“Geoffrey? Geoffrey?!” Jonathan whirled around to find the hunter in a state worse than he could have imagined. Blood had found its way out of his mouth and the terrified expression on his face was so foreign on the likes of him the doctor almost thought he’d imagined it.

The hunter grabbed onto him, tears welling in his eyes as he tried to stay upright. Reid did his best to support the man, wrapping his arms around his back in a semi-hug, but he was shaking so violently it was hard to keep a hold on him.

“Jonathan!” the raspy, painful voice of McCullum cried as he found a grip on the doctor’s shoulders only to stumble and fall and grab at his sleeves.

“McCullum, calm down, please listen to me- McCullum!” Jonathan realized there was nothing more he could do. He tried to hold onto the hunter but there was no use, he was becoming dead weight, and his hand just barely slipped McCullum’s as the Irishman fell to the floor in a violent seizure.

Edgar joined Jonathan immediately as the vampire bent down to see if he could help in any way possible, but he knew there was nothing he could do. A few more choked, painful sobs and Jonathan lost eye contact with Geoffrey, who’s head dropped to the side.

Whatever was wrong with McCullum had taken his life.

Jonathan slammed his fist on the floor beside him. “Dammit!” He tried to fathom what had just happened, how had he been killed? Was it Jonathan’s fault he died? If so, he hadn’t meant for it to, he didn’t want that- Geoffrey wasn’t a great person, surely, but he was doing what he thought was right, and for a few minutes there Reid thought he could see some friendliness in that bitter attitude of his.

_It could only be his fault- he’d killed the hunter, he’d-_

“Jonathan, there’s no use beating yourself up over this now.” Edgar consoled as he placed a hand against Geoffrey’s inner elbow to get a pulse, finding none.

“But I- he didn’t have any wounds, he looked fine to me! He…” Jonathan’s sentence trailed off as he couldn’t find the words to speak. He didn’t know how to feel.

“If finding out what happened will help you, Jonathan, then let me help you.” Swansea removed his hand from McCullum and placed it on the doctor’s shoulder. “Let’s walk through what happened.” He understandably wasn’t nearly as upset about the death of the hunter, but the way he’d died did unsettle him. If Jonathan didn’t know how he perished, he wondered if he would, either.

Jonathan didn’t let his eyes leave Geoffrey’s body, even as Edgar sighed and grabbed his medical supplies. He had trouble breathing himself, he could tell Reid’s leg was hurt (how the vampire had so easily ignored his need for blood at a time like this was admirable) and with a cracked rib Edgar couldn’t just stop taking care of himself. He settled himself down beside Jonathan on the floor- as long as he didn’t move the rib didn’t hurt so much!

“Walk me through what happened.” Edgar began. It almost looked like he was going to play the part of therapist here.

-

Everything in his body ached. Every limb, every cell, every atom felt wrong. _He_ felt _wrong_. Geoffrey couldn’t remember quite what had happened; all he could think about was not being able to breathe.

“Yo … th nk th … bl od m y ave s meth n g to do wi h it…?”

None of his functions seemed to want to comply with his brain. He tried to breathe- he couldn’t. That sent panic and he tried to move. He couldn’t. Everything was dark, his eyes wouldn’t open. Not until he felt a rush run through his body, a sudden vitality that told him to live again.

Geoffrey’s body came to life in an instant. He gasped for breath painfully as his dry throat burned, forcing him to reach up and turn over as he coughed up blood that had begun to clot in his throat. He couldn’t tell what was happening right now, the environment around him was so blurred and everything just hurt _so_ much. The spasms tried to start up again, but his body was weaker than anything and thankfully they weren’t nearly as bad as before.

“Ge f rey…?! Geo fr y! Geoffrey!” McCullum found his vision swimming as he was turned over and Jonathan was above him, shaking his shoulders.

“Good god, you’re alive!” the doctor marveled as he took an uncomfortable amount of time before finally letting go of the vampire hunter.

“Wha… Wait, I don’t-“ Geoffrey closed his eyes as his head hurt too much to think and his parched throat was distracting him from everything. Whatever had happened, he felt god awful. And incredibly thirsty. Jonathan held out a hand that the hunter managed to find by squinting his eyes, using it to help him to his feet. Everything was thick and groggy, like he could hardly even read his surroundings at all. Normally the hunter’s senses were as sharp as ever, but when he managed to see again he found himself struggling to focus. He _needed_ to drink something.

He heard Edgar mumble something to Jonathan, but outside of the ringing in his ears he only caught a few unimportant bits and pieces. Everything felt like it was closing in on him, his mind was strained and his vision too bright.

“McCullum, I… How are you feeling right now?” Reid asked in the calmest manner he could, whatever Edgar had said had put him on edge. Or maybe he was already, Geoffrey could hardly tell.

“You doctors don’t know when to stop asking questions, do you… I’ll put it slowly” He gave the doctor a taunting smile, one that looked far friendlier than the ones he’d given during their fight, but it was an exhausted, distracted smile. He was having trouble focusing, Jonathan could tell. McCullum could hardly see Jonathan, truth be told. Everything was melting into each other. “I. Am. Fi-“ his eyes suddenly snapped over to the direction of a noise- something soft and consistent, something his mind was telling him was more important than the conversation. It was in the direction of Dr.Swansea, he knew this, but he didn’t see anything but _it._

Christ, he hadn’t noticed how dull and monochromatic the room had seemed until he looked at it. That was when he noticed the dryness of his throat began to burn and he could hear the sound get louder, slightly faster, more important. While everything else melted and blended together, there was a very clear contrast with this. It was red, resonating, alive- vital. It branched off into small veins of the same bright, pulsating vitality. He’d never seen it before, but he knew it would quench his thirst and his throat burned so much he didn’t care what he was talking to Jonathan about all of a sudden, he needed that now.

Geoffrey could hardly hear Jonathan talking to him as his attention was entirely fixed on the sustenance in front of him. It was behind Jonathan, he just needed to walk past and grab it- easy as that. He found his legs almost working of their own accord as he walk towards it. Jonathan was saying something to him, something urgent, but he didn’t really care at the moment. The bastard could wait, he was good at that.

McCullum was almost reaching out to the red, which had begun to beat faster as he approached, almost inviting him- until he was suddenly ripped backwards, sent stumbling backwards. Whatever it was didn’t let go of the collar of his jacket even as he stopped. Instantly agitated he looked at the hand, and then up to Jonathan. Color had begun to return to his vision, and immediately pissed that the leech had yanked him back he ripped the hand off his jacket and took a generous step backwards as he glared at the doctor.

“What the hell was that for?!” He snapped at Reid. As color returned and he could see the face of Jonathan more clearly, it was worrying when he saw the painful, melancholy expression he bore. His speech was slightly slurred, something wasn’t sitting right in his mouth. Apparently Jonathan took notice, the way he flinched wasn’t from the snappy hunter.

“Do you know what you were doing, McCullum?” the doctor asked instead, ignoring the question he’d been asked.

“O’ course- I was going to- I-“ Geoffrey looked for the glowing sustenance, only to see Dr.Swansea standing there instead. The surgeon’s eyes were wide, his heart rate was up- McCullum noticed with a feeling he did not want to name, and he’d already backed up several feet . He quickly swiped his mouth to test if he’d- he had. “No. No, no, NO!” he whirled around so that he couldn’t look at Swansea- or Jonathan. He could feel the doctor’s worried stare burning into the back of his head as he leaned over and covered his face with both hands in an attempt to ward off whatever had been done to him. His fangs were incessantly poking out, almost painfully against his gums, and he bit into his hand to try to suppress the thirst.

“McCullum, I know this… Isn’t the situation you wanted to find yourself in, but you need to calm down- I don’t want to have to pull you off of someo-“

“_Shut up, leech_!” the hunter hissed, knocking several books off the desk in front of him before planting his hands on the desk and leaning over it to keep himself balanced. The presence, the sound, it couldn’t be drowned out and about damn killed him thinking about it. His hand bled from the puncture wound. He felt his body shake from weakness and starvation.

“Geoffrey, I beg of you, listen to me!” Jonathan approached McCullum quickly. He knew the hunter had the willpower of a damned god, but he didn’t want to risk it. Edgar had asked Jonathan if he should leave the room with a point to himself and the door, and with a nod the surgeon (reluctantly) began his quiet leave, albeit slowly.

“I don’t listen to leeches! _Move_, or I’ll rip your head off _before_ I get to my sword!” He spat back, risking Edgar being in his peripheral vision as he stared at Jonathan, daring him to stop him. When the doctor made no immediate move (probably because he knew Geoffrey wasn’t joking) the hunter shoved him out of the way with all the strength he could muster (which wasn’t much) and stumbled towards the door. Edgar, who hadn’t quite left yet, hardly had time to move out of the way as the Irishman stormed past him and opened the door.

“McCullum please-“ the door slammed as the hunter left, not bothering to listen to the rest of what he had to say. Spite and anger seemed to be the only things that helped him control this sudden starvation, so he did his best to keep it brewing. Not that it was very hard, he was absolutely pissed at literally everything, especially that damned leech and the fascinated surgeon. He had to take a moment to lean on the wall as his vision pulsed into that monochromatic, gray scheme that signaled a peak in his hunger pangs. Walking past Dr.Swansea was enough to trigger it… He didn’t want to think about the way out of here.

McCullum hadn’t been looking forward to it, but he was expecting to get some time alone to think about what had happened until he heard the door open down the hall, a quick “stay here!” and someone speed walking behind him. He had hardly made it to past the secluded hall, dammit!

“Geoffrey, I know you don’t want to be here right now, but please think about staying in my office until you can curb your hunger a little, I know it must be eating at you-“

“Do you ever shut up?!” the hunter snapped behind him, not bothering to stop. He ascended the stairs, moments later hearing the becoming-familiar sound of Jonathan’s shoes behind him.

“No, apparently not. Maybe I can help you before you inevitably leave, hmm?” the doctor offered.

“I don’t want help from a-“

“Leech, I know. I get that you hate me, but I’m truly trying to help you, as a doctor.” Jonathan was pointedly avoiding making the note of Geoffrey also being in a similar state to him now, and the hunter knew it.

“Whatever, Reid. Your cunning tricks won’t work on me.” He growled, receding to a snappy defiant tone rather than his usual explosive one. It almost came off as even scarier than his shouting. They both knew it couldn’t be long before the insistent leech said something that tipped him off again. So for the next minute, Jonathan kept quiet.

He opened the elevator and tried to step in and shut it before the sappy leech could follow him in, but as soon as he was shutting it (on Jonathan’s arm, no less, he was just walking in) there was a quick black mist and the doctor was in the elevator on the opposite side. Balling his fists in an attempt to keep himself calm he tried his best not to think about everything as the elevator rose with a slow creak. Jonathan being quiet caused the thickest uneasy silence McCullum had ever felt. Not one second had he gone arguing with this fucker, it almost felt unna-

“That’s it!” Jonathan beamed suddenly. McCullum took back everything he said he wanted him to shut up again.

When the hunter didn’t reply, clearly trying to avoid conversation, Jonathan made a point to continue.

“You called me by my name!” He had a small, proud smile on his face until Geoffrey turned around and glared at him harsher than he thought he could be glared at, quickly wiping the disgusting, fanged look off his face.

“_It doesn’t mean anything_.” Geoffrey scoffed, honestly a bit put off that this was a conversation the vampire deemed important at the moment.

“Well, sure it does, you even called me Jonathan when- uh- I mean-“ Reid had fucked up and he knew it.

Geoffrey really wished Jonathan had a heartbeat, because he would have gladly let himself rip the damn leech’s throat out. Of course the thought in its most basic form brought heavy disgust in his mind, but he didn’t let that stop him from taking a large step closer in the small elevator to grip onto Reid’s collar.

“Your words _will_ get you killed,” he snarled, forgetting he had fangs as he bared them, “and I won’t hesitate to be the one to kill you.” His grip was pathetically weak. Ever since he woke up he’d been god awfully fragile, but he had done his best to ignore it. In a way he regretted what he just did because he was sure Jonathan realized how loose his grip was and he did not want to be this close to the doctor.

Luckily Jonathan went silent after that, frowning in a silent apology as he made no move to defend himself. He flinched as Geoffrey let out a pained huff and let him go with a rough tug from his arm. Thankfully there wasn’t any more silence to fill the voice as the elevator stopped. Slinging the bars open he made his way straight to his sword. He really hoped Jonathan didn’t notice his pathetic excuse for a walk with a slight limp. He probably did.

McCullum’s sword was right where he left it, too much blood dried on the blade to actually see the metal glint beneath. One of the lights in the far back flickered- the remote to the mechanics themselves had been slung away and lie broken somewhere. So much for modern technology. He had some trouble picking up his sword, but he was used to its weight even when injured and quickly sheathed it.

Looking around for his crossbow, his eyes fell upon a splintered mess being carried over to him by Jonathan. Well fuck. For one, he didn’t want the vampire touching his stuff, and second, his crossbow was a mess. It had been slung off just before he’d been beat, but he didn’t realize an entire section had broken off, making it completely useless.

“It’s a waste. I’ll just make a new one when I get back.” He dismissed the crossbow and with it Jonathan as he pushed himself back onto his feet to leave.

“Back? Wait you’re- you’re actually going to go back to Priwen Headquarters?”

“Yeah, is that a problem?” Geoffrey gave Jonathan a daring glare. The doctor’s eyes downcast, but he said nothing more on the subject. The two trekked back to the elevator in silence. Another pang of hunger and Geoffrey could feel his fangs more than ever, but he managed to keep himself still. Jonathan may not have a heartbeat, but even he was seeming like a good alternative to- no. Shut up.

No matter what though, he couldn’t seem to get the gray vision to go away on command- it had to be left to dissipate on its own. On the way down he didn’t bother looking at Jonathan, and when it opened he made sure to quickly exit and take up a brisk walk down the stairs. He only tripped twice, and even though his limp was clearer it would get him away from this damned hospital faster and frankly that was all he wanted right now. Want. What a disgusting word. He wanted more than to leave, or his body did, anyways.

Edgar was waiting at the bottom of the staircase, peeking out from behind the corner to the rest of the floor. He could smell him before he even descended the stairs, but seeing him sent his vision spiraling back into gray. McCullum didn’t let himself look at him as he walked past. Jonathan stopped shortly behind him to talk to the surgeon quickly, “Edgar, please. I’ll fill you in later, but you’re going to make this very difficult if you keep following us.”

“I… I know, Jonathan. I just want to make sure everything is okay, I haven’t even a clue exactly what is going on here-“

“I know, just trust me right now.” With that the doctor caught up with Geoffrey again, who’d stopped only momentarily to get his bearings before beginning to descend the stairs to go to the ground floor. He knew he’d have to go through the patients and nurses, but… He could do it. It would be easy. He just wouldn’t look at them, wouldn’t acknowledge their existence- his vision only became worse as he finished his descent.

Despite what he constantly told himself, he wasn’t so certain in his abilities of spite and stubborn though. Sheer willpower didn’t seem to be in his favor since his battle with Jonathan. His mind whirled and his vision swerved as he made it to ground level. It was everything he could do to stop himself from either running to the nearest patient or passing out on the spot as he gripped the railing at the end of the staircase. There was an incessant ringing in his ear- he could hardly see- his body shook almost violently-

“McCullum.” In an instant his senses returned to him. Jonathan had a tight grip on his hand, something the hunter wanted to tug away but was suddenly thankful it had helped ground him. The world was still gray, almost dizzying, but he managed to focus on the doctor and his nonexistent heartbeat to help quell the other distractions. That didn’t mean he didn’t glare at the doctor, however, and clenched his fist in response to the unwanted touch.

“Follow me.” He muttered before walking towards the front entrance. Geoffrey was dragged along suddenly without much say in the matter. He understood what Jonathan was doing immediately- if anything went wrong- if McCullum did something he would regret- the doctor would be hardly an inch away to prevent it. Which he was thankful for yet again, as his vision became worryingly dark through the mass of patients. He could see each and every individual heartbeat and it physically hurt to tear his eyes away from them to focus on the back of Reid. Looking away didn’t help much, since the sounds of dozens of heartbeats practically drove him insane. It was all he heard on the way out, and it only dawned on him to pull his scarf over his mouth halfway through the dangerous stretch of patients. One nurse came daringly close and he didn’t even realize what he was doing before he snatched his hand back to his chest and stared back at the nurse as they passed, who spared him a nervous glare before hurrying off and out of the field of his vision, her heartbeat still beating fervently.

As his vision quickly returned to Reid, he swore he could even see the veins in the doctor, even if no heartbeat was present.

Luckily he hadn’t the time to think about what he’d almost just done as Jonathan exited the building and his vision began to regain its ability to see color. His hand was dropped and he stumbled forward as far from the building as he could.

“That was close, hunter.” Jonathan commented as he took a breath of his own in the night air. Even for him the hospital could become a bit much at times.

“I-… I know.” McCullum hardly responded with an choked breath. He didn’t lower his scarf as he checked and still felt the dull ache of fangs extended from his gums. He wanted to rip them out of his mouth right then and there.

“You need to do something about this before you go back.”

“Don’t you dare suggest anything of the sort, leech. I’m fine.” McCullum growled with his suddenly renewed spite as he took another look at the hospital, shuddered, and then began a swift walk towards the headquarters. Dorris’ theater was closest, it would have to work for now.

“Alright, but at least let us go a different way-“

“On the rooftops like your kind? Never! I won’t use pathetic tricks or leech magic.”

“Leech magic isn’t how I would put it, but…” Jonathan shook his head. Of course there was no convincing the hunter of anything. He’d definitely need the doctor’s help tonight then, he was sure of it. So just to be safe, he continued to walk behind the new ekon, wincing as his limp worsened the longer he went without being able to heal it.

The ekon in question was very much aware of Reid behind him. The thought to snap back at him or kill him right there occurred to him, but he knew he was in too weak of a state to fight off even a limping leech, even though he himself was arguably stronger than before. So instead he opted to ignore him and try to forget he even existed. It would take a good few minutes to get to the headquarters, at least, the temporary set up at the theater. He didn’t like the idea of revealing the Guard’s hiding place, but Jonathan would have ended up going in and likely slaughtering his men in search of Edgar anyways, so he supposed he could tolerate his existence until they got close. It wasn’t as if he’d be able to shake him off anyways.

The only thing between him and the building was this and another road that was littered with Priwen Guards. Not that he should have to worry, they would recognize him immediately, right?

He assumed so. But the way his vision seemed to bounce between gray and color, he wasn’t sure if he’d recognize them. He’d heard of a few of his own men getting shot before because frankly, his guard had gotten used to calling whatever moped around in the shadows a leech before leaping on their triggers. Nobody had been killed (that he’d known of) in his time leading so far and he didn’t want to be the first victim of friendly fire.

Regardless though he felt like he’d be pretty safe, and if not something in the back of his head tugged on the idea of a quick death before he had a chance to do anything wrong.

McCullum wasn’t sure exactly what he was hoping he hoped would happen if he happened upon a loaded battalion of his. The hunter did know however that one was very close, one with roughly five people, all very much alive, senses heightened on alert, heartbeats-

He stopped for a second to snap himself out of it. Jonathan gave him a worried stare behind him as he waved it off as nothing and continued down the street, still wavering slightly.

Despite knowing what the lack of light could do to men out hunting beasts of darkness and their fragile minds, he hadn’t expected to be a target. Perhaps deep down he knew he would be, his men were good hunters, but his subconscious hadn’t let him really dwell on it.

But of course, the moment the hunter turned the corner (Jonathan wavering behind, unsure as what to do to stop this idiot) someone screamed bloody murder and the entire group turned heel on Geoffrey. They couldn’t identify exactly that it was their leader, being well over half the street away, but it was dark, humanoid, and its demeanor screamed starving and hunting.

He was in fact starving, but he was very much not hunting.

Someone loaded with a crossbow and gasoline-doused arrows flicked a match on a crate as he lit the arrow and let it fly.

McCullum didn’t move. Suddenly he didn’t know how to.

Jonathan, realizing Geoffrey was an absolute idiot on a suicide mission darted out, grabbed onto his scarf, and used his shadows to phase away from the arrow just in time for it to miss the Priwen leader’s chest.

“Bloody hell McCullum, you’re going to get yourself killed!” Jonathan hissed. The approaching shouts and curses of the guard sent his mind whirling. Geoffrey seemed to snap out of his shock as he glared back at the doctor.

“Maybe that would be a good thing!” He snapped back, but made no effort to shove him off. The guards were getting closer.

Jonathan couldn’t see himself actually running anywhere with his limp, so he desperately tried to find another route to escape the hunters. Behind them would do no good in the long run, there were no doors (not they could be invited in by someone in the next ten seconds anyways) and McCullum seemed prepared to throw himself into a pack of hungry wolves. There was only one way out then, one the hunter would just have to deal with.

“I know you don’t like our ‘leech magic’, Geoffrey, but I’m afraid that’s my only option.” Reid said quickly. McCullum turned to say something, probably snappy and undignified, until Jonathan shadow jumped and cut him off as his mind was sent into a disoriented frenzy.

The two landed on the roof above where they were standing, stumbling a few feet forward towards the middle. Thankfully not off and into the hunters’ laps. McCullum collapsed. When Jonathan had yanked him back it had been bearable, but going farther and actually being taken through the air was something his body absolutely did not take lightly apparently.

“You little-“

“Shh!” The doctor hushed him. The hunters were right below where the two had just been at. Jonathan peered over the roof cautiously, and McCullum creeped closer to the edge, if only to see who exactly they’d avoided while his mind settled down.

He recognized a few of them- the others were complete rookies. He could tell by the group that three of them had no idea what they were doing and the other two not much more than them. One rather short guard was carrying with him a crossbow- presumably the one that had been shot with- while the guard beside him was rubbing at his arm. It wasn’t hard to pick out their conversation from the mumbling and curses of the other trio.

“I wasn’ expecting to have it backfire on me too… At least it shot, though.” The taller one commented as he inspected the wound on his arm.

“I’m sorry about that! But now I know a few tweaks that might fix it!” The shorter one enthusiastically replied, nearly bouncing with the crossbow as they left the other three to check around for the vampire. It seemed like those two weren’t very interested in actually finding the two monsters so much as testing out the crossbow. McCullum huffed, disappointed.

“Yeah, and it shot well too. Right where I wanted it- too bad the leech had reflexes, if everybody hadn’ been so loud maybe we coulda actually shot him.” The tall one complimented. He looked around warily, McCullum guessed it was a half-assed attempt to find the two escapees. It made his heart freeze for a moment when the guard’s eyes washed over the rooftops, snapping downward just as they landed on McCullum.

The shorter one leaned in to mumble only slightly softer, “that’s why being in patrols suck, Everett.”

“I know, Darrien. But when we have orders…” the rest of the conversation died off as the patrol went through the alleyway. It bothered Geoffrey that Everett, one of the hunters he could remember well, could easily have seen him. If he had- no- if he had he would have shot him at that moment.

“We’d better leave now.” Jonathan broke the silence with a quiet comment as he surveyed the rest of the area below them. It was always safer on the rooftops.

McCullum pushed himself to his feet, brushing off the grime from the roof tiles.

“Fine.” He stated. “But we leave the damned roof.” He growled, looking over the edge, trying to figure out how to get down without doing that show shit Jonathan pulled.

“I- Alright. Do you need help sha-“

“Did you take in anything I said earlier?” the hunter seethed, clearly frustrated he couldn’t do anything without those stupid leech abilities but refusing them nonetheless.

“… Grab my sleeve then.”

“What?”

“Grab my sleeve. I’ll do it for you.” Jonathan sounded exasperated. He desperately wanted to beat some sense into McCullum, but clearly that hadn’t gone well the first time so he bit his tongue and put up with his annoying brave act.

Reluctantly he reached out and gripped Reid’s shoulder- a bit higher and closer than the doctor had expected which caused him to startle slightly (who knew when this man was just going to reach out and strangle him, honestly) but he quickly got over it and focused. Tonight did really not like him, he hardly had enough energy for himself after that fight and yet here he was, using his own powers over and over again to save this idiot’s ass.

On the ground floor the two began to make for the theater with haste. Only one street away now, and McCullum wanted to get in before another patrol spotted them. Inside he’d… He’d find some way to conceal himself. Keep his scarf up, stay until morni- the next night, figure out everything then. He didn’t think his eyes would have any telltale leech colors, though he was worried his iris’s might light up like Jonathan’s. If anything his authority would let him stomp in and refuse anyone’s company enough to take refugee alone. He was a good liar- he could bullshit his way out of explaining himself easily enough.

It really did disgust him that he was planning this out, though. He should be planning to walk in and surrender himself, but here he was all logic and reason outmatched by pure, primitive survival instinct.

Geoffrey wasn’t given the grace of getting lost in his brooding thoughts as Jonathan decided to yet again break the silence with useless chatter.

“I know it is none of my business, but what, exactly, is your plan of action when I drop you off at the theater?” He inquired.

“Drop me off I-“ McCullum immediately recoiled. He made it seem like this was some ordinary date and he was simply being taken home. “-I’m going to figure it out then.” He growled his answer instead.

“Hmm. You barely made it through the hospital’s ground floor by yourself, do you think you can-“

“Of course I can make it, leech. I can withstand this incessant urge.”

“It’s not just an urge you can deal with, McCullum.” Jonathan stated calmly as the two peered over the corner before turning. The theater was in sight now. “You still have to feed on _something_ to curb it, or else you will end up being the one who slaughters your guard, not the skals they’re dealing with every night.”

“I am not going to be ripping my teeth into anything, Jonathan! I will- I’ll find a way to fix this!” McCullum whirled around to glare at the doctor, fangs bared as his scarf fell from his face.

Jonathan hardly flinched as they stopped walking, his head bowed in defeat.

“I’m working on a cure, but… It just doesn’t work like that. I don’t want you to fall to the thirst because you refused to work with it.”

“I refuse to become a leech, I can’t- not after everything I’ve worked towards- I refuse it!” there was a strain in his voice Jonathan hadn’t heard in the hunter before. Stealing a glance at him he saw the tears building in his eyes. The ekon in front of him wanted nothing more than to believe that this was something one could simply “deal with” for an amount of time before it magically fizzled away.

McCullum was suddenly acutely aware of the rats scurrying away in the corners of the street.

“I understand your disgust for this, I really do, but if you want to fight this so eagerly then you need to be willing to fight it the right way.” Jonathan stepped forward and placed both hands on the hunter’s shoulders. For once he didn’t shove him away.

Geoffrey wasn’t sure how to react to that. The snappy counter he had died on his tongue as his tears threatened to break the floodgates of his eyes, and he wiped at them messily to keep his composure. Jonathan was right. He hated that he was right. McCullum swore he could hear every little heartbeat rushing through the alleys as rats went in and out of their little hideaways. It almost made him mad hearing them rush through his ears.

But he’d refuse as long as possible.

“I will even work on a cure with your help, if you so wish. But getting yourself killed will do neither of us any good.” Reid spoke again when Geoffrey didn’t bother responding. Again his own words fell silent, and all he could muster was a half-hearted glare up at Jonathan. Reid returned it with a small smile as he guided McCullum back on their way to the theater, walking beside him now instead of hesitantly behind him.

“I won’t press the matter further- I trust you know the limits of your own willpower.” He ended.

The two walked in silence for another minute before the doctor stopped. Dorris Fletcher’s theater was close enough now that Reid knew he couldn’t afford to keep on lest he be seen from the windows or a patrol guarding the building in hiding. McCullum took notice of this and turned around to face him, taking in a breath to calm himself.

“So this is where we part, doctor.” He stated matter-of-factly, deftly avoiding the situation that brought them here.

“For now. You can expect me to check in soon, of course.” Jonathan replied with mirth.

“I wouldn’t get too attached; the guard might not like that.” Geoffrey countered, but his smile was daring. For once he found himself not minding the company of the leech, a shame that it had to be at the very end of their tiresome escapade.

“Oh who cares, the guard don’t like anything I do.” Reid waved off the argument.

“Hmph, fair enough. Goodnight, Reid.”

“Goodnight, McCullum.”


End file.
